July 27, 2011

Rep King Hearing: Rep Thompson(D) "Al-Shabab does not appear to present any danger to this homeland"..

The committee report says Al-Shabab had formed “alarming operational ties” with al-Qaeda and its Yemeni affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It said American recruits had been trained by senior al-Qaeda operatives.

“With Al-Shabab’s large cadre of American jihadis and unquestionable ties to al-Qaeda, particularly its alliance with AQAP, we must face the reality that Al-Shabab is a growing threat to our homeland,” Rep. King said.

But ranking committee member Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, disagreed, saying Al-Shabab had never attacked the United States. “Al-Shabab does not appear to present any danger to this homeland.” He said most of the Americans who had joined the group would be identified and arrested upon their return.

Most of the Americans? What about the ones that can't be identified? Do they not count Rep Thompson?

A U.S. Congressional committee on terrorist recruitment of American Muslims turned its attention north on Wednesday, as a prominent Somali-Canadian leader testified that Ottawa had failed to tackle the ideology of extremists.

Ahmed Hussen, president of the Canadian Somali Congress, told U.S. lawmakers that the Canadian government was concentrating on detecting and arresting terror suspects while leaving their rhetoric unchallenged.

“The strategy of Canadian officials as they confront this phenomenon in my community has been to view this serious matter only through the prism of law enforcement,” he said. “There has not been a parallel attempt to counter the toxic anti-Western narrative that creates a culture of victimhood in the minds of members of our community.”